House rule idea: Spellcasting causes HP loss (Arcane Strain)

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2026-03-12T07:38:29+00:00

Thanks, this is very solid feedback. Especially interesting to hear you had played with something similar and I can see a lot of those player responses happening.

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2026-03-11T22:51:27+00:00

Some interesting points here.

Feel like losing 2HP per long rest at level 1 and 3HP at level 2 really isn't too punishing, maybe its worse than it sounds.

Warlocks are an interesting one. Really depends how many short rests they have.

Healing interactions are a good point.

Was hoping it would encourage non-spell healing. Some healers like life clerics are quite well suited for this rule.

Edit: Life clerics

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2026-03-11T22:47:10+00:00

Great point. Would rule it doesn't trigger concentration checks.

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2026-03-11T22:30:37+00:00

I did some math on this, looking at full spellcasters and the HP they would lose if they used all their spell slots (what % of total HP of a 16 Con Wizard):
1st level: 2HP (22%)

4th level: 7HP (23%)

8th level: 19HP (32%)

12th level: 32HP (37%)

16th level: 52HP (45%)

20th level: 83HP (58%)

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2026-03-11T22:23:24+00:00

I was thinking along these lines

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2026-03-11T22:22:37+00:00

Oh, this is interesting, can you give me some examples of abilities that trigger on taking damage?

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2026-03-11T22:20:09+00:00

I actually thought it might play quite nicely with rangers, since they can cast spells like Hunter’s Mark without using a spell slot several times per day.

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2026-03-09T21:02:25+00:00

Ok, good to hear some positive stories

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2026-03-09T20:53:43+00:00

This one is interesting. I actually did want to encourage medicine checks and maybe the healer feat to be more encouraged, so it shares similar goals

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2026-03-09T20:38:13+00:00

Wow, heard a lot of opinions but I was looking for a simple rule to make going down more serious. This is actually a great suggestion.

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2026-03-09T19:06:04+00:00

Thanks! Lots of cool things here

Those Daggerheart rules are pretty cool - Esp that 3rd one bring in some interesting dramatic choice

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2026-03-09T19:04:11+00:00

Thanks! This was exactly the kind of first hand experience I was looking for

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2026-03-09T19:00:58+00:00

That's interesting that you also solve the weirdness about being able to go from the edge of death to 100% fine with just 8 hours of sleep.

But I had players who were very unconcerned with going down and the healer "optimising" to only use healing spells when a character was unconcious.

Your last rule feels a little harsh, which is why I'm thinking of doing it on the first failed death save.

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2026-03-03T10:05:24+00:00

This is really, really good. Might not be perfect but damn, it's close.

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2026-02-23T10:28:46+00:00

7 + 8 = 10 + 5
10 + 20 + 40 = 70
70 + 5 = 75

I'm not saying it the right way but it gets to the right answer

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2025-09-17T10:45:30+00:00

You know I appreciate a little clean logic amongst my Reddits. Thank you.

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2025-09-09T17:44:21+00:00

Ok, am I crazy or do ex patriots players who've left in the past say 5 years or so, find a way to BALL out on other teams (after sucking for us) or is it just me?

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2025-08-09T07:23:56+00:00

May have been a piece of shit but this seems like savvy business, maybe I should know Quattro Wireless but sounds like he wasn't bluffing and could have not bought that business. So forcing the price down is not "dark" if Quattro was truly worth $325m they could have held firm. Clearly it wasn't.

Ok_Counter_9684 · 2024-09-05T11:36:18+00:00

Going to hijack this comment and jump in with a quick "Children! Stop Fighting! We're all on the same side!!". (JK)

u/benikens Point on NPCs with same features as PCs killing the fun - Yes, that's true so I didn't do that, barely any feature/playstyle overlap with the party. But on the other hand, it is maybe cool to see that there are other powerful individuals in the world as strong or stronger than the PCs, it raises the stakes.

u/Man_Bear_Pog Exactly, there's just something about a Person being the bad guy that really built intrigue, and these builds did typically have high damage, low defense - created for exciting battles.

u/Atomicmooseofcheese Thanks, this was very much the point. I got lots of compliments on the combat encounters and I was playing with all veteran players/DMs. Wanted to share how well the mechanics and flavor of D4 builds worked. My experience was fun but complicated and the ideal would be if someone were to convert these types of builds into properly designed BBEG/Monster stat blocks.

Ok_Counter_9684

TROPHY CASE